May 19, 2008	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1429

DHAKA, May 18: A special anti-corruption court on Sunday indicted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a second graft case, involving a power plant deal during her 1996-2001 tenure, a state prosecutor said.

Other courts on Sunday ordered two former cabinet ministers jailed pending trial and denied interim bail to the head of an Islamic political party in a separate corruption case.

The spate of corruption charges against prominent politicians comes as Bangladesh’s interim military government prepares for elections later this year.

The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission last year accused Hasina — along with seven others — of taking kickbacks and using influence to award a government contract to two private companies to build three small power plants, ignoring the lowest bidder.

Hasina, who is already jailed awaiting trial in another corruption case, denied the charges in court on Sunday, saying they were false and politically motivated, public prosecutor Sharfuddin Khan said. Judge M. Firoz Alam said the court will begin depositions of the prosecution witnesses on Wednesday.

Also on Sunday, a metropolitan court in Dhaka ordered two former influential cabinet ministers jailed pending trial in another corruption case after they surrendered to the court, the United News of Bangladesh news agency reported.

M. Shamsul Islam and Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan were senior ministers in former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Cabinet in 2001-2006. The charges against them involve awarding two contracts for managing container terminals without proper bidding.—AP